Retriever for ropes and like articles



Peb. 12, 1924. y 1,483,828

w. K. MoNRoE RETRIEVER FOR ROPES AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed July so, 1925 Patented Feb.. l2, i924..

y STATES insana; rArENr Certes.

wrLL x. MoNnon, or CLEVELAND, omo, AssrGNOn To THE BROWN HoLsTINe'. na-

CHINnnY CorarnNY, or CLEVELAND, CHIC, A CORPORATION.

RETRIEVER FOR ROPES AND LIKE ARTICLES.

vApplication filed July 30,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l', WILL K. MONROE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Uhio, have invented a new and useful improvement in Retrievers for Ropes and like Articles, of which the'following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification, and wherein the same parts are designated by like letters in each case.

My invention, generally speaking, relates to situations where, in the normal operation of a given machine or apparatus, a certain amount of slack in the line or rope member of the same, must accumulate or be paid out according to the height at which such operation is conducted.

lf the line-member, for example, is that by which workmen in the building or painting industry adjust their stagings to the various levels of their work, the slack of that member, in prevailingk methods, at each raising or lowering movement, must be led into or out of an open coil on the staging by hand; so, too, when the slack to be taken care of, occurs in the electric cable that extends from an overhead lumber-carrier (as hereinafter shown in the drawings), to the vertically movable grappling apparatus be low, in present arrangements, it must be wound in and out of any retriever for the same, that only functions by the aid of springs, or when specially geared to the hoisting power for the purpose. Such auxiliary appliances are undesirably costly, and, when drums are used, are liable to Overwind and pile up on the drums, to an extent that will accelerate the winding rate of the cable beyond the calculated speed of the hoist.

It accordingly is the object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive form of retriever that does not depend upon mechanical movements for its functioning, but, when once placed, will automatically and positively serve every requirement of the case.

Broadly described the invention may be said to be a cone that is concentrically located within a truncated hollow cone, and has a base and altitude somewhat greater than the corresponding dimensions of the inner cone, such definition, it being understood, being modifiable to some extent, as

1923. Serial No. 654,760.

when, for instance, in order to gain in compactness or to save space or material, the devlce is given the outlines rand skeleton formation represented in the drawings.`

. In said drawings: i y

Figure I is a side elevation of a lumbercarrier machine employing the invention. Figurev Il is a side elevation of a device embodying the retriever described, and f Figure lll is a plan View of Figure Il.

Referring to the drawings, L is a type ofk lumber-Carrier having grappling-arms cna,y

that are operated by a solenoid S. A hoisting-frame H is suspended by ropes 7, r, and has ay form ofmyretriever R mounted upon the same. C is a cable in the circuit that energizes the solenoid S. lt leads from the solenoid S, through the hoisting-frame H, into the bottom of the retriever where it is coiled to a predetermined quantity and then led upwardly, through the opening O at the top of the retriever, to the main frame F where it is fastened at a point directly above the apex A, of the cone N, of the retriever R.

ln order to insure a desired degree of structural stability, the cone N is preferably made of sheet material. In many situations the outer container element, as in the drawings, may be a frame-work and may also have the form, or outlines, of a cylindrical base portion surmounted by the frustrum of a cone. ln structures, so made up, bars B, B, are riveted to the lower part of the inner cone N, at equidimensional points around the same and are designed to radiate outwardly therefrom to a calculated perimeter line for the greater of the bases involved. From this line they extend upwardly perpendicularly to their radiating portions to a predetermined heght, and, thence, sev erally, are made to converge to a uniform distance from the apex of the cone N thereby circumscribed. The upper ends of the bars, in this manner, will define a circular aperture O, around said apex, and, in such position, are securely fastened to a band O', through which the cable C, will be passed and by which it will be guided inwardly or outwardly of the retriever R, as occasion requires.

The concentric differences between the base diameters of the retriever R, and its contained cone, or divisional member, N, will of course measure the coiling capacity of the receptacle, and in each case, be determined by the conditions of the service in which it is to be used, and, While the precise Width of the aperture O, is not prescribed, that dimension Will alsov be arrived at by such and other pertinertwconditions, as will be manifest to those familiar vvith the art concerned. From the foregoing, it isV thought the operation and use of the device Will be suciently manifest.

What I claim and Wish to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1f. A retriever for. ropes and similar articles, comprising 4the combination of an upright receptacle vthat converges from its base to a central opening 'at'the top, and an upright divisional member Within and securedto the same, Whose sides converge to- Wardl the center' point of said opening, substantially as'shovvn and described.

2. A 'retriever for ropes and similar articles, comprising the combination of an upright conical guide-member for the slack,

and an upright conical-container for the coil of Said slackfconfcentrically surrounding the same, provided with a central opening for the rope at the top, substantially as shown and described.

3. As an article of manufacture, a retriever for ropes and similar apparatus, comprising the combination of a receptacle having its lovverportion cylindrical and its upper portion converging therefrom to a central aperture at the top, and an upright conical divisional member, of a lesser base diameter, Within and secured to the receptacle, as and for the purposes substantially shown and described.

1- A retriever for ropes and similar articles, comprising the combination of a structural portion inthe forni of the frustruin of an upright hollow cone, and a strnctur'al portion Within the same in the form of an upright cone, said portions being secured together With their bases in the same plane and their axes in the same line, substantially as shown and described.

WILL K. MONROE. Witnesses:

L. P; Lirrs,

C. S. MALTBIE. 

